Gritty England hold India

Ipoh: India wasted chances galore to settle for a 1-1 draw against England in the their second match at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in Ipoh, Malaysia, on Sunday.

It was India's first point in the tournament after having lost 2-3 to Olympic champions Argentina in their tournament opener on Saturday at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium.

Young Shilanand Larka (14th minute) scored his first international goal in the dying minutes of the first quarter to give India the lead, which the men in blue maintained till the 53rd minute, when Mark Gleghorne converted a penalty stroke.

By virtue of this draw, last year's bronze medallist India are now placed fourth in the table in the six-team tournament. The Indians, who have fielded a young and inexperienced team in the tournament under Sardar Singh's leadership, only had themselves to blame as they wasted as many as nine penalty corners besides a few great scoring chances from the field.

India were slow to get off the blocks as England put pressure on the rival citadel with continuous raids upfront. But India took the lead against the run of play a minute before the first quarter when Shilanand pounced on a rebound after Talwinder Singh's initial shot was saved by England goalkeeper Harry Gibson.